John Williams to attend Academy's "Behind the Score: The Art of the Film Composer"

[Muad'Dib 1285]

Composers Gustavo Dudamel, Gustavo Santaolalla and John Williams will gather at the Academy for Behind the Score: The Art of the Film Composer on Monday, July 21, at 7:30 p.m. at the Bing Theater in Los Angeles. In a conversation hosted by Tavis Smiley, the trio will discuss significant musical moments in film that have inspired their work as they examine the art and process of creating a film score as well as the director-composer relationship. Dudamel who is the music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic has just made his film scoring debut with The Liberator (Libertador), a biopic about Simón Bolívar. Santaolalla is a two-time Oscar winner for his scores for Brokeback Mountain and Babel. Williams, best known for his music for such films as Star Wars, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jaws, currenly holds the nominations record for any living person with 49 nominations.

Behind the Score: The Art of the Film Composer is supported by The New York Times, a founding supporter of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, scheduled to open in Los Angeles in 2017. Tickets for Behind the Score are $5 for general admission and $3 for Academy members, LACMA Film Club members and students with a valid ID. Tickets will be available to purchase online at www.oscars.org. The Bing Theater is located at 5905 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles.

http://filmmusicreporter.com/2014/06/27/academy-to-present-behind-the-score-the-art-of-the-film-composer/

Strange selection, I guess many will be pissed about Santaolalla But I'm interested to hear what Dudamel and Williams have to say to each other.

[karelm 1883]

Wow, that's one block from where I live! No excuse to miss this...

[Thor 3747]

Lucky bastard!

[Sharkissimo 1969]

Gustavo Santaolalla and John Williams. Two of the greats.

[Dixon Hill 4213]

Will there be a boxing match?

[King Mark 2643]

Gustavo Santaolalla and John Williams. Two of the greats.

they don't belong in the same sentence

[indy4 152]

Wow, tickets already sold out!

[Sharkissimo 1969]

Gustavo Santaolalla and John Williams. Two of the greats.

they don't belong in the same sentence

I was.. joking...

[King Mark 2643]

yeah,I know

What pisses me off is they invite this guy who has written about 2 film scores instead of another one with more experience

[indy4 152]

Dudamel hasn't written many scores either. It's a really odd pairing. Maybe they want people with all levels of experience.

[King Mark 2643]

Never heard of that one. Well no wonder he only wrote one film score and the movie is not released yet

[indy4 152]

Wow, that's one block from where I live! No excuse to miss this...

You should record it

[Dixon Hill 4213]

Dudamel may not be a film composer but he is no lightweight. A conversation with him and Williams is sure to be fascinating.

[Koray Savas 1771]

yeah,I know

What pisses me off is they invite this guy who has written about 2 film scores instead of another one with more experience

Santaolalla has written many scores, don't be ignorant just because he won an Oscar over Williams.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6207]

I would have gone to this if tickets hadn't sold out. Where's that golf course he walks around every evening? The "worse JW expanded release" thread has reminded me that I need to have a little word with him about some of his unreleased music...

[Thor 3747]

Santaolalla is a fine and experienced film composer. I think it's a great pairing -- Dudamel with the classical experience, Santaolalla with the rock background (and a more 'stripped' form of composition) and Williams with...well, all the varied experience in several fields.

[Incanus 5259]

Well I'd go to the event for John Williams alone.

If I remember correctly Dudamel has done a single score and thought it was a tough and challenging gig.

[crocodile 4953]

He apparently tried to conduct some passages during Tintin recording serssions didn't he?

Karol

[chuck 153]

Here ya go:

[Ricard 1545]

Thanks!

[Dixon Hill 4213]

Very cool.

Incredible to hear that anecdote about his first wife's death.

And how wonderful to hear him talk about Bernstein's Norton lectures.

[chuck 153]

One more

[Ricard 1545]

Hmmm they are uploading the videos as we speak.

[nightscape94 956]

It was quite touching to hear him refer to his wife.

[Tom 1481]

Well that was the most visceral thing I have ever heard Williams say. In some weird way, it might even solidify his reputation as a great artist in the minds of detractors.

[Sharkissimo 1969]

I'm going to cry. He's like the granddad I never had.

[Dixon Hill 4213]

Tavis Smiley, right? I feel dat.

[Sharkissimo 1969]

Who?

[chuck 153]

I'm going to cry. He's like the granddad I never had.

Gustavo Santa-oohlala can do that to you.

[BLUMENKOHL 1044]

Very moving to hear him speak about how his wife's death affected him and his work.

Interestingly we were talking about this earlier this year here.

I really do think these events profoundly shape artists, and knowing about them can really shape our appreciation of their work. For example, I don't hear ST: Nemesis the same way knowing what I know now about Jerry's life while he wrote it.

When we know these stories, we hear and feel things that would otherwise be hidden. There's a lot of physiological and behavioral evidence of this: stories shape our perceptions, whether we want them to or not. It's a shame that a lot of artists lived and died with the belief that their works should stand on their own, without their audience ever knowing such stories. It's a profound shame because we can never tap into that dimension of their works.

Yes in a sense it's their artistic choice, but knowing what we know about human psychology now, I think it's a misguided choice.

[Incanus 5259]

It was indeed moving to hear Williams recount his first wife Barbara Ruick's passing as the pivotal moment of his life. He sounded somehow awed and grateful of the experience despite what must have been a devastating loss.

I think it is for any artist or creative person a difficult to thing to put to words the process of creation of their work and entirely dissect the causes that led to it, impeded or facilitated it. Film composers usually have very clear goals as far as their work needs to accomplish certain task in the film and they often illuminate this on a broader scale and tell those stories of what their overall aesthetic or ideas were for a particular score. I am sure there would be another emotional or psychological dimension to the work be it music or painting or sculpting or any art if we knew such intimate stories and thoughts that ran through the artist's mind at the moment of creation but those influences, mental states and thoughts might pass without conscious recollecting by the artist of each and every moment in the process of creation. The art itself is very personal and something they give to us so do we need to know "behind-the-scenes" process or causes that went into creating it? It might be interesting and it might indeed add another layer or understanding to the appreciation of this art but perhaps composers and other artists deserve to keep this personal side just that, personal. It does not diminish the power of their work even if we don't know every thought or anecdote or event that went into making of these things.

But undoubtedly knowing such things would certainly change perspective from which we view a piece of music, an entire score or painting or they would probably go a long way to explain certain qualities in these works.

[Jay 18382]

Finally watched the video. Good stuff. The saddest thing that could happen in his personal live lead to a creative explosion in his professional life.

[Dixon Hill 4213]

Blume, post more. Please.

[BLUMENKOHL 1044]

Pah! I'm in semi-retirement. Getting too old for this.

[Dixon Hill 4213]

So I only have two more good years here?!

[TownerFan 3030]

There is something almost Beethovenian in Williams' deeply moving thought. The way he found enlightenment through personal tragedy also reminded me of Joseph Campbell's "pathway to bliss" philosophy,

All this reminded me of the powerful emotions I felt when I listened to him conducting his Violin Concerto in Chicago last November. I was deeply struck by the emotional journey of this work, which is probably JW's most personal ever.

[publicist 3794]

Are there more uploads coming? I want to see the film clips and discussion thereof.

[BLUMENKOHL 1044]

There is something almost Beethovenian in Williams' deeply moving thought. The way he found enlightenment through personal tragedy also reminded me of Joseph Campbell's "pathway to bliss" philosophy,

All this reminded me of the powerful emotions I felt when I listened to him conducting his Violin Concerto in Chicago last November. I was deeply struck by the emotional journey of this work, which is probably JW's most personal ever.

From what I heard, that was started while Ruick was alive, for her, but then she passed away. I imagine he heavily revised the whole concerto once she passed away, correct?

Assuming that's true, I wonder what it was supposed to have sounded like before the tragedy. The final version we got is certainly his darkest, most inaccessible work.

[Dixon Hill 4213]

I've been listening to it for years and still haven't found my way in.

[Hlao-roo 388]

Are there more uploads coming? I want to see the film clips and discussion thereof.

Burlingame has a write-up at FMS: http://www.filmmusicsociety.org/news_events/features/2014/072314.html

[Koray Savas 1771]

Pah! I'm in semi-retirement. Getting too old for this.

I'd settle for another round of JWFan Survivor. Though it wouldn't be the same without artyjeffrey's illustrations.

[Sharkissimo 1969]

Pah! I'm in semi-retirement. Getting too old for this.

I'd settle for another round of JWFan Survivor.

I'd love that.

[Jay 18382]

Pah! I'm in semi-retirement. Getting too old for this.

I'd settle for another round of JWFan Survivor. Though it wouldn't be the same without artyjeffrey's illustrations.

I really really miss that guy. I can't even find his website with his art on it anymore.

[Dixon Hill 4213]

Pah! I'm in semi-retirement. Getting too old for this.

I'd settle for another round of JWFan Survivor.

I'd love that.

I don't know what it is, but I'm in.

[Sharkissimo 1969]

Pah! I'm in semi-retirement. Getting too old for this.

I'd settle for another round of JWFan Survivor.

I'd love that.

I don't know what it is, but I'm in.

http://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=17897

[Dixon Hill 4213]

LOL. I remain in.

[KK 2875]

I just watched the clips, and as many others have posted, the impact of his first wife's death was incredibly touching.

Pah! I'm in semi-retirement. Getting too old for this.

I'd settle for another round of JWFan Survivor.

I'd love that.

Indeed. I miss Blume's old shenanigans.

[Incanus 5259]

I was never even interesting enough to be in the JWFan Survivor...

[Muad'Dib 1285]

If you aren't interesting enough then what's left for the rest of us?

[dead_lizard 12]

I believe Williams has stated in the past that he actually doesn't like Wagner's music.

edit: oops, i notice that he complimented Dudamel on his Mahler, so it's a moot point.